As I do not live in the US, I am more drawn to local news in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria where continued spills are reported to be almost a normal occurrence…a local reporter reports in the Daily Sun…

“In a third world country like Nigeria where democracy is at infancy hence people are afraid of government instead of government being afraid of the people which is the norm in a matured democracy like the USA, nobody is expecting President Jonathan to invite the families of oil disaster victims in the Niger Delta to Aso Rock for apologies or condolences as President Barrack Obama has done with the families of the eleven oil men who lost their lives in the Gulf of Mexico inferno. Nevertheless, as a country aspiring to be one of the twenty leading economies in the world by the year 2020, it is not utopian for the victims of oil spill in the Niger Delta to expect more empathy and positive response from the oil companies who are wreaking havoc on their lives and a government that derives 95% of its foreign revenue from oil sourced in the Niger Delta. What makes International Oil Companies, IOCs operating in Nigeria appear to be shying away from their responsibilities of keeping the environment in which they operate safe and secure for the sustenance of the inhabitants of the area while they are alive to their responsibility in the middle East, Europe and USA as reflected in the current efforts by BP in the Gulf of Mexico? …”

The Bible states in Ecclesiastes 9[16] Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Developing nations remain prayerful that offshore drilling bans in the US are lifted as this ban will only redirect more unsafe offshore activity to the poorer fiscally inept nations dependent on oil wealth…oil that will of course be exported eventually and refined to fuel the energy hungry west…

In business, personal life and ministry, the sin of selfishness can often be bewildering when exposed … Why should the failing of a brother in a far removed land bother me…especially as it does not come within my direct sphere of influence?

A favourite Christian writer in describing the Church’s most harmful transgressions listed Selfishness – the opposite of that love that seeketh not her own as one of the cardinal sins.

Recently, at the Methodist Church of Great Britain’s annual Conference, John Howard of the Joint Committee on the Ethics of Investment expressed concern, however, that environmental issues in some parts of the world were not receiving the attention they were due. He said: “The quantity of oil spilled every year in the Niger Delta is greater than the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico up until now and yet it doesn’t get the same publicity.”

As we pray for national healing and restoration, especially in these tough years of recession, do consider that the gains of irresponsible oil exploration over the years always revert largely to the oil-rich west…

Joshua 7 [6]And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. [7] And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! [8] O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! [9] For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it , and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? [10] And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? [11] Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. [12] Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. [13] Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

Perhaps oil giants are innocent as poor desperate communities sabotage and engage in illegal tampering of facilities – and poor villagers exaggerate claims … actually causing spills that they may be compensated…perhaps corruption makes it impossible to help the aggrieved…only God truly knows.

As prayers concerning the spill in the Gulf Coast continue … remember the “Achan” that hinders answers – the injustice of potential wealth built on destroyed lives. Also, do intercede for peace, forgiveness and an end to bitterness in afflicted poor communities far from the lush beaches of the Gulf coast…communities that may have been hurt continually for decades …

Job 42[10] And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Originally published in The Christian post.  For more insight on Oil Spill …read article on Oil Spill hits Louisiana Coastline.

Please also watch, for more context on this article, the video below. It provides more insight to the issues. (Views expressed in the video are not the author’s)

Remember – Jesus wants to be Lord of our lives. God bless you.

Bode

Discover a new capability to address spiritual hunger and spread truths of God to millions – inexpensively, without large staff/infrastructure or resources and also without  a massive supporting network organisation. The internet offers the speed, scale and the simplicity to stretch in completely new terrains and reach new peoples in record times.

All that seems to be needed is basic interest in Technology (you do not have to be a techie) and a decent internet connection…and of course a passion for God and the gospel.  Is it not wonderful – the endless possibilities for the gospel to be made available to people all over the world…especially to previously unreached civilisations?  How about a new tool to catalyse the much needed awakening amongst comatose believers which also spreads the truths of Godliness and repentance with viral speed – bringing about the much talked about Revival we have been longing and praying for years to see.

The Great Commission is indeed going digital… a new term “Internet Evangelism” has come to stay…a new ministry of Internet Evangelists emerged.  Just a few minutes on the laptop on the plane or in the hotel room can result in an article sent around the world that can move someone closer to God somewhere in the unknown corners of the globe.  Prayer points can be gathered and acted upon from an aching soul somewhere typing an outpouring of her grief and burdens in a comment.  Comforts can be ministered and just-in-time to the hurting. Internet publishers find and send messages to wherever it is needed while content managers find articles and use them to develop even richer content.

So what is God asking us to do?

First, the internet digital channel must be soaked in prayers. We must pray. “Let the Holy Spirit illuminate hearts with the message of truth. Let the message come alive and let it deliver, bless and empower. Let the new Internet Evangelists receive their new commissions with fresh zeal, divine empowerment and boldness.”  We must pray that the Holy Spirit will mobilise His Internet Evangelists with rich persuasive and anointed material and revelation that will usher millions out of darkness to marvelous light.

But there are also many dangers.  Evil is being proclaimed at the rooftops and called good and good called evil. Darkness is termed light and light darkness…More darkening counsel is now so pervasive and seductive becoming a subtle blocker –  highly effective in insulating the mind even further against empowering truth.  The message that there is no absolute truth may have found the perfect tool to propagate anything and everything.  Everyone can now be “the angel Gabriel” with a message of conception. Therefore there must be prayer as Isaiah prayed…to frustrate the counsel of the ungodly.

Isaiah 5: [20]  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Intercessors must cry out and declare Proverbs 19[21]  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

All other counsel must come to nought. Do not assume the digital revolution will push the gospel message by default.  More likely – without prayers, it will obscure and confuse issues and build fresh walls against the gospel…so we must pray…and NOW.

We must not just pray but diligently embrace the digital revolution and flood the media with the gospel…preaching  more of Jesus and His message of salvation rather than ourselves and our persuasions…lest we fall into the common traps of previous movements.

Bode is also author of new Christian Book Wealth out of Ashes .

This seems to be the question on the lips of many as ears itch for a favourable answer. 

I Kings 18[41]  And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. [42]  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, [43]  And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

The prophet Elijah declares the Recession is over – though no evidence of this is seen and he commands his servant to go and look again seven times.

Elisha, another prophet of God many years later makes a similar declaration in another famine in 2Kings[7:1]  Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. [2] Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

How will we know when the Recession is over? We will know when God declares it to be so through His word by His prophets.  Will we see signs of improvement and economic indices/indicators getting better suggesting the Recession is about to end?  We may not. However, the sure sign will be the word of God declaring it over.

Will economists, brilliant men and highly rated journals herald the end of Recession?  In the text above, Elijah’s servant saw nothing until seven times he looked.  In the case of Elisha, God used lepers to silence the lords (the economic advisers) of kings.

Again, the simple question “Is the Recession over?” Time magazine reports in Sept 14, 2009  –  Turning point for the Global Recession?  Perhaps, indeed it is.

We are already beginning to hear God speaking through His prophets. Let the prophets of God, waiting in unknown caves, echo with certainty His word for the moment – and let them mobilise their servants.  Let the lepers (true saints) of today’s post-modern age put the lords of Kings to shame again.  

But then, rather than seeking to know if Recession has ended, should we not be more concerned about if we have learnt our lessons.  Have we changed our paradigms and reconstructed our mindsets?  Is our mind renewed by His Spirit?  In other words – are we repentant?  As this recovery develops, hear the Lord Jesus Christ warning the one made whole about a worse thing coming.

John 5[14] Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

A careful look at the famines described in the book of Kings in the above scriptures reveals that the famine in the time of Elijah was so bad that the widow of Zarephath and her child prepared to die.

1Kings 17[12]  And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

But the end of that famine saw only an unrepentant Ahab (like most of us anxious to see recovery) going up to eat and drink as indeed the rains were about to fall again. Years later, a very much worse and fearful situation arose in Samaria.  So terrible, that this time women boiled their children.

II Kings 6[29]  So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.

Is the Recession over?  For someone who cares it is time to put his face between his knees to seek the face of the Lord and intercede about the future. “Lord, give us grace to completely overhaul our ways that we do not see even worse times in our future”

Nahum 1[9]  What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.  

Have a blessed day

Bode Ososami